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1HARPer’s Bazaar Volume #1, Issue #2

HARPER’S

BAZAAR

Volume #1, Issue #2

Table of Contents Introduction

CreditsAuthor: Tim DuggerEditing, Pagemaking, & Layout: Tim DuggerArtwork: Toren “MacBin” Atkinson, Peter Bergting, Joel

Biske, John Dollar,Jeff Laubenstein, Colin Throm

ICE Staff

CEO: Bruce NeidlingerPresident: Heike KubaschOffice Manager/Cust. Service: Lori DuggerEditor/Jack-of-All-Trades: Tim DuggerPagemaking: Sherry RobinsonWeb Mistress: Monica L. WilsonOffice Cats: Rajah, Pheobe, & Matsi

My House Cats: Bandit, Coco, & Rascal

Spring 2005

WARNING! All Items in this PDF should beconsidered optional and completely unofficial.

Welcome to Issue #2 of HARPer’s Bazaar. The pastfew months have been extremely busy for me. So busy,in fact, that I have just recently gotten the time to workon this issue. As always the contents of this product are acombination of various ideas that just spew out of thedark, dank recesses of my mind. As the warning labelsays, these ideas should be considered optional, andnone of them have been play tested. So use them at yourown risk.

Well, you don’t want to sit there listening to meprattle on all day, so stop reading the introduction andget on with the rest of the issue!

By the way, I hope you enjoy it, and have fun withall of your gaming!

HARPer’s Bazaar Copyright © 2005 by Aurigas Aldbaron LLC. All rights reserved. No reproductions without permission. Producedand distributed by Mjolnir LLC, dba Iron Crown Enterprises 112 Goodman Street, Charlottesville, Virginia 22902.Web: www.harphq.com and www.ironcrown.com.

Introduction ...........................................................................1New Races ............................................................................... 2

Kalbari ............................................................................2Merak .............................................................................. 2

New Cultures .........................................................................3Cragger ...........................................................................3Oceanic ...........................................................................3

Blood Talents ..........................................................................4Kalbari ............................................................................4Merak .............................................................................. 4

Paladin ....................................................................................4Paladin Sphere ...............................................................5

Rules Options ........................................................................9Cascading RR for Fear ..................................................9Skilled Fumbles .............................................................9Initiative Option ........................................................ 10Armor as Damage Reduction .................................... 10Power Strike (Hack & Slash) ..................................... 10

Clerical Orders .................................................................... 11Earth Wardens ............................................................ 11Guardians of the Night .............................................. 12The Gatekeepers ......................................................... 13


NEW RACES

KALBARI

DEMEANOR: The Kalbari are a solemn, distrustful raceof people. They are often short-tempered even when notangered; they are very brusque and almost rude to thosethat they encounter. The Kalbari respect and admire showsof strength, and this has colored their perceptions. Theyview most other races as being inferior and thus not worthyof courtesy, however this is tempered with the realizationthat their normal views would prevent commerce withothers, thus the brusque attitudes.

The greatest honor that a Kalbari can bestow upon aperson from another race is the appellation of “friend”.When bestowed, the Kalbari also normally bestows a smalltoken, such as a pendant, upon the new friend. This tokenwhen viewed by other Kalbari shows that they are truefriends, and this affords the individual with much greaterrespect from the Kalbari than they might otherwise show.

APPEARANCE: The Kalbari are humanoid in form, withthe same number of digits on hands and feet as mostother races. Their skin is covered with a tough grey hidethat has a rough, pebbly appearance. They stand about 5’in height on average, and have a stocky build. The Kalbarido not have external ears like many other races, their earsare internal and covered by a layer of taut skin. TheKalbari, unlike many other races, have very little in theway of outer appendages, other than arms and legs, eventheir noses are highly flattened on their faces.

They have dark coarse hair that runs in a singlestripe from the crown of their head on down to thesmall of their back. The Kalbari men trim their hair tojust an inch or two in length, while the female grows hermuch longer, often braiding it and weaving beads andcolored stones into the beads.

LIFESPAN: Kalbari live an average of 90 years.

CULTURE: The Kalbari prefer digging their homes intothe side of cliffs, carving them out of the living rock, thusthe Cragger culture is their default culture.

SPECIAL ABILITIES:Tough Hide (Minor) – The Kalbari have a tough

grey hide that protects them as if they were wearing softleather (+20 DB).

Stone Sense – With innate faculties for stone andstonework, Kalbari may attempt a normal MediumPerception Maneuver to notice unusual details, such ashidden doorways, traps within the stone itself, or flawsin stonework that could be potentially dangerous (suchas those in floors or ceilings).

Dark Vision (Lesser) – Kalbari have the ability tosee up to 10' in total darkness. With at least someillumination, such as a candle, lantern, or torch, they areable to see up to twice as far as the light provides.

Example: Without a torch, a Kalbari can seeclearly up to 10' in total darkness. With a littorch in hand, illuminating a 20' radius, theKalbari will be able to see 30’clearly, plus anadditional 10' at a -40 to their Perception.

MERAK

DEMEANOR: The Merak dislike staying in one placevery long. They love to travel and see the world, especiallyaboard ships. Most Merak who travel inland tend tobecome melancholy and long for the sight of the endlesswater of the oceans. To those who they meet, the Merak areinvariably friendly and cordial, however there is somethingabout them that makes one think that they are just slightlycondescending towards those who are land locked.

APPEARANCE: The Merak look just like humans forthe most part, except for a few minor, yet tellingdifferences. First off, the Merak’s skin is a light shade ofblue in color, and appears finely scaled, much like thatof a fish. They also possess gill slits along the sides oftheir necks, and their fingers and toes are connected bya light, yet tough webbing. The Merak have no body hairat all, though they often decorate their scalps withfanciful tattoos and other markings.

LIFESPAN: Merak live an average of 130 years.

CULTURE: The Merak love the seas and the ocean. Of allthe cultures available, they most prefer the Oceanic culture.

SPECIAL ABILITIES:

Water Vision– Merak can clearly see up to 100' easilywhen underwater. This ability also grants them Night Vision,as per the talent, but at half of the normal ranges listed for it.

Amphibian — The Merak is able to function inwater as easily as it does on land, and can actually breathein a liquid environment. For every 5 ranks a Merak has inswimming it adds +2 to its BMR while in water.

Natural Sea Immunity – Merak have an innateimmunity to extremes of naturally occurring cold, althoughthey are still penalized by the effects of magical cold. Merakare also unaffected by the pressures of deep water.

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NEW CULTURES

CRAGGER

Craggers are cliff-dwellers. They carve their homesout into the sides of sheer cliffs, often using eitherladders, or stairs carved into the face of the cliff to travelfrom one level to another. Most dwellings in the Craggerculture rarely go deeper than two or three chambersdeep into the rock of the cliff. Instead, they prefer tocarve out their homes so that most rooms can have awindow in the rock walls to allow light and air.Sometimes these windows have artfully crafted shuttersthat blend into the surrounding rock.

Most cliff-dwellings of the Cragger culture haveextremely difficult approaches, which provide excellentdefenses against invaders and raiders of many types.

Those of the Cragger culture are often agrarianbased, growing crops and other food stuffs in nearbyriver valleys and canyons and sometimes supplementthis with a bit of hunting.

PREFERRED LOCATIONS: Cragger communities arealways found carved into the sides of sheer cliffs.

CLOTHING & DECORATION: Members of the Craggerculture clothe themselves in sturdy fabrics that matchthe rocky hues of their cliffs, to better blend with theirsurroundings. Any jewelry that is worn is done so inmoderation, and is always close-fitting.

DEMEANOR: Those who live within the Craggerculture are often distrustful of outsiders, an attitudegained from many years of fending off the invasions thatdrove them to seek homes within the defensibleconfines of cliff-dwellings in the first place.

STARTING LANGUAGES: Racial Tongue (S 6/W 5), Common(S 4/W 3)

OCEANIC

Those of the Oceanic culture, simply put, live uponthe Ocean. They often build floating cities that work in amanner similar to ships, including having sails and acomplex rudder system. These floating cities thrive onfishing for most of their food, though there are often anumber of specially constructed locations that are usedfor farming within the city itself.

While the city itself always stays out in deep water,those of this culture often man smaller ships which areused to travel to port cities for trade and commerce.

PREFERRED LOCATIONS: Oceanic communities arealways found on the open oceans. The cities themselvesacting like huge ships that almost never see land.

CLOTHING & DECORATION: Individuals of this cultureoften only wear what clothing is required for protectionof the elements. For dealing with other cultures,individuals of an Oceanic culture will don plain, roughclothing of a durable nature. For special occasions andholidays, individuals wear bright colorful clothing.Jewelry often consists of shells, pearls and other itemsfound within the ocean, though it will also be made witha high variety of styles.

DEMEANOR: Those who live within an Oceaniccommunity often have a light-hearted and carefree viewof the world and the events happening around them.They know that should trouble arise, they can movetheir entire city to a new location.

STARTING LANGUAGES: Racial Language (S 6/W 5),Common (S 4/W 3)

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BLOOD TALENTS

KALBARI BLOOD (LESSER)The character has a bit of Kalbari blood in his

ancestry, marking him with slightly Kalbari features.The player may also select any one of the followingSpecial Abilities to replace any one of the character’snormal racial Special Abilities. Once selected, itcannot be altered.

• Tough Hide (Minor)• Stone Sense• Dark Vision (Lesser)

Cost: 1

KALBARI BLOOD (GREATER)One of the character’s parents is a Goblin, making

him a half- Kalbari. His features are heavily marked,denoting his Kalbari heritage. The player may select anytwo of the following to replace any two of the character’snormal racial Special Abilities.

• Tough Hide (Minor)• Stone Sense• Dark Vision (Lesser)• The character’s Kalbari blood has a strong

influence on his strength, physique, andlifespan.• Strength: +2• Constitution or Self Discipline (select 1): +1• Average the lifespan of both your races.

Kalbari have an average lifespan of 90 years.Cost: 2

MERAK BLOOD (LESSER)The character has a bit of Merak blood in his

ancestry, marking him with slightly Merak features.The player may also select any one of the followingSpecial Abilities to replace any one of the character’snormal racial Special Abilities. Once selected, itcannot be altered.

• Water Vision• Amphibian• Natural Sea Immunity

Cost: 1

MERAK BLOOD (GREATER)One of the character’s parents is a Merak, making

him a half-Merak. His features are heavily marked,denoting his Merak heritage. The player may select anytwo of the following to replace any two of the character’snormal racial Special Abilities.

• Water Vision• Amphibian• Natural Sea Immunity• The character’s Merak blood has a strong

influence on his strength, physique, andlifespan.• Strength, Agility, or Quickness (select 1): +1• Constitution: +2• Average the lifespan of both your races.

Merak have an average lifespan of 130 years.Cost: 2

PALADIN

The Paladin is a warrior for his deity, gaining spellsfrom his god in exchange for his faith and devotion, andthe occasional quest. The Paladin normally has a specificCode of Conduct that he must follow in order to retainthe favor of his deity. This Code of Conduct will bespecific to the deity that the Paladin worships.

FAVORED CATEGORIES:Combat: 5 General: 4Mystical Arts: 5 Physical Arts: 4Selected Category 2KEY STATS: Insight, Self Discipline Strength,

Constitution

PROFESSIONAL ABILITIES: The Paladin may learn anyspell off the Paladin Sphere. Starting at fourth level, andevery fourth level afterwards (4th, 8th, 12th, etc.) thePaladin may reduce the number of Power Points requiredfor casting spells, from the Paladin Sphere only, whilewearing armor by 1 point, down to a minimum of 1.Starting at 5th level, the Paladin automatically gains theTalent, Succor (Minor). At 15th level, this becomes Succor(Major), and at 25th level increases to Succor (Greater).

NOTES ON SPELLS

Spells from the Paladin sphere use the stats Insightand Self Discipline for their stat bonuses. Paladins haveaccess to the following list of spells as their sphere.

Bladeturn*CourageDeflections*Divine HammerDreamsHoly WeaponInspirationsMagic ShieldProtection ChantResist DamageTurn UndeadWarrior’s Might


CUSTOMIZING THE PALADIN

Upon selecting a Paladin, the playershould work with the GM to customizethe Paladin for the setting in which he isbeing played. The “Selected Category”listed in the Paladin description shouldbe placed in a skill category whichreflects the nature and focus of thedeity. Thus the Selected Category for aPaladin in service to Nature God mightbe the Outdoor Category, while anotherPaladin in service to a Night Goddessmay have the selected category be theSubterfuge Category.

Additionally, subject to GMapproval, the player may swap out any 6spells from the Paladin Sphere for 6other spells that reflect the nature andfocus of the deity. These spells must beswapped out before the Paladin learnsany of the spells from his Sphere, or elsehe must keep all of the spells listed.

CODE OF CONDUCT

Every order of Paladins must follow acode of conduct as dictated by their deityand by the church to which they areaffiliated. The codes are individual to eachorder, and can vary greatly from order toorder. It is up to both the player and theGM to work together to create the Code ofConduct for the order to which the Paladinbelongs. Much like the Paladin’s spells, theCode will reflect both the focus and thenature of the deity that he worships.

PALADIN SPHERE

BLADETURN*

PP COST: 5RANGE: SelfDURATION: —SPELL TYPE: UtilityRR: —SPHERES: Paladin, Mage, Warrior MageDESCRIPTION: Caster may deflect any one melee attackthat he is aware. This attack receives a -20 modifier.SCALING OPTIONS:

Increase Modifier (-50) +2 PPIncrease Modifier (-100) +4 PPIncrease Range (any visible attack within 100’) +4 PPIncrease Range (any visible attack within 300’) +6 PPIncrease Range (any visible attack within 500’) +7 PP

Courage

PP COST: 3RANGE: selfDURATION: 2 round/rankRR: —SPHERES: PaladinDESCRIPTION: For the duration of the spell, all characterswho are within a 10’ radius of the caster receive a +5bonus to Resistance Rolls against any Fear effects. If thetargets of this spell have already failed a RR vs. fearwithin the last 5 minutes, they gain a second RR vs. itthrough this spell.SCALING OPTIONS:

Caster gains benefits as well +5 PPIncreased Bonus (per +5 increase) +3 PPIncreased Radius (per +10’ radius) +3 PPIncrease Duration (5 rounds/rank) +4 PP

DEFLECTIONS*

PP COST: 7RANGE: 100’DURATION: —SPELL TYPE: UtilityRR: —SPHERES: Paladin, Mage, Warrior MageDESCRIPTION: Caster may deflect one missile that he seeswithin range, causing 20 to be subtracted from its attack.SCALING OPTIONS:

Increase Deflection (-50 to the missile attack) +3 PPIncrease Deflection (-100 to the missile attack) +5 PPUnaim True (missile automatically misses target) +7 PPMass Deflection (affect one missile per rank) +10 PP


DIVINE HAMMER

PP COST: 5RANGE: TouchDURATION: 2 rounds/rankSPELL TYPE: UtilityRR: —SPHERES: Cleric, PaladinDESCRIPTION: This spell allows the character to increasethe damage he does with his weapon. In its base form,the spell causes the weapon to do double concussion hitdamage when it strikes.SCALING OPTIONS:

Thunder Strike(one electricity critical of equal severity) +5 PPGreater Divine Hammer (3x hit point damage) +3 PPIncrease Duration (5 rounds/rank) +4 PP

DREAMS

PP COST: 3RANGE: SelfDURATION: 1 dreamSPELL TYPE: UtilityRR: —SPHERES: Cleric, PaladinDESCRIPTION: Caster has a dream regarding a single topicdecided upon when this spell is cast. The caster mustsleep for his normal sleep cycle or a minimum of 4hours if the caster’s sleep requirements are less than 4hours. The dream will not reveal any informationconcerning the topic directly; instead its meaning will beveiled in highly symbolic imagery.SCALING OPTIONS:

Increase Dreams(2 separate dreams on 2 different topics) +2 PPIncrease Dreams(3 separate dreams on 3 different topics) +4 PP

HOLY WEAPON

PP COST: 12RANGE: TouchDURATION: PermanentSPELL TYPE: UtilityRR: —SPHERES: PaladinDESCRIPTION: The caster enchants his weapon with thepower of his deity. This weapon is attuned to only thecaster and the bonuses are present only for him, to allothers it is just a normal weapon. He may not have morethan one Holy Weapon in existence at a time. This grantsthe weapon a +5 bonus to OB and it also works as a +1 PPAdder. This spell may be cast on the weapon multipletimes, no more than once per day, to increase the powerof the sword through the use of the following scalingoptions. Each scaling option must be cast separately.Note: The holy abilities are special abilities based uponthe focus of the deity and are determined by the GM,refer to Chapter 15 of the HARP core rulebook,Customizing the Cleric for more details.SCALING OPTIONS:

Increase Adder from +1 PP to +2 PP +6 PP




Increase from +5 to +10 to OB +6 PP




Add minor holy ability +18 PP

Add major holy ability +36 PP


Inspirations

PP COST: 5RANGE: SelfDURATION: 2 rounds/rankRR: —SPHERES: PaladinDESCRIPTION: The caster is able to inspire all friends whoare aware of him and who are within a 10’ radius of hislocation. This grants them a +5 bonus to all actions forthe duration of the spell. This spell may only be usedduring combat or highly religious events. The casterhimself is not subject to the effects of this spell.SCALING OPTIONS:

Caster gains benefits as well +5 PPIncreased Bonus (per +5 bonus) +5 PPIncrease Duration (5 rounds/rank) +4 PPIncrease Radius (per +10’ radius) +2 PP

MAGIC SHIELD

PP COST: 3RANGE: SelfDURATION: 2 rounds/rankSPELL TYPE: UtilityRR: —SPHERES: Paladin, Warrior MageDESCRIPTION: Creates a shield of translucent energy toprotect the caster. This shield will move on its own toprotect the caster, but is treated as a normal shield in allother respects. The bonus granted from this shield isequal to that of a Buckler (+15 DB) for a person trainedin its use.Scaling Options:

Increase Protection (as Target Shield; +20 DB) +2 PPIncrease Protection (as Normal Shield; +25 DB) +4 PPIncrease Protection (as Full Shield; +30 DB) +6 PPIncrease Protection (as Wall Shield; +40 DB) +8 PPIncrease Duration (5 rounds/rank) +4 PP

Protection Chant

PP COST: 5RANGE: SelfDURATION: 2 rounds/rankRR: —LISTS: PaladinDESCRIPTION: All persons within a 10’ radius of the casterat the time the spell is cast, and who are aligned with thecaster (GM’s discretion), gain a +5 bonus to all ResistanceRolls and to their DB for the duration of the spell. Thecaster himself gains no benefits from this spell.SCALING OPTIONS:

Caster gains benefits as well +5 PPIncrease Duration (5 rounds/rank) +4 PPIncreased Protection (per +5 increase) +5 PPIncreased Radius (per +10’ radius) +2 PP

RESIST DAMAGE

PP COST: 7RANGE: SelfDURATION: 5 rounds/rankSPELL TYPE: UtilityRR: —SPHERES: Paladin, Warrior MageDESCRIPTION: Caster is able to ignore the effects of oneLight critical for the duration of the spell. Caster stilltakes the damage, but it just does not affect him untilafter the duration of the spell. A Light critical isdescribed in Chapter 9 Healing Injury & Death.

Scaling Options:Improve Resistance (may ignore 1 Medium critical) +4 PPImprove Resistance (may ignore 1 Severe critical) +8 PPImprove Duration (10 rounds/rank) +6 PP


TURN UNDEAD

PP COST: 7RANGE: 100’DURATION: 5 rounds/rankSPELL TYPE: AttackRR: MagicSPHERES: Cleric, PaladinDESCRIPTION: This spell causes up to 5 points of undeadwithin a 10’ radius to flee from the caster or disintegrate. Thecenter point of the radius must be within the range of thespell. All affected undead within the radius resist against thesame number, as determined by the casting of the spell.

Each undead counts its class number as the numberof points it is worth, thus a Class II undead is worth 2points for the purpose of this spell. Animated dead, asper the spell Animate Dead, are treated as Class Iundead for the purpose of determining their pointvalues and they do not get a Resistance Roll if the spell issuccessful. All other undead get a RR versus this spell.When Undead attempt to resist against this spell, theyuse a Cascading Resistance Roll (CRR) much like somepoisons. Refer to Chapter 12, Poisons for moreinformation on Cascading Resistance Rolls. The CRRused for This spell is as follows:

CRR (RR +20) No EffectCRR (RR) FleeCRR (RR-20) InactiveFailure DustIf a result of Flee is gained, then the Undead must flee

for the duration of the spell. If it cannot flee, then theUndead will move as far away from the caster as possibleand remain motionless unless attacked. If attacked, theUndead will no longer be affected by this spell, and willresume its attacks. If the result is Inactive, then the Undeadfalls down and is not able to do anything for 24 hours. If theresult is Dust, then the Undead is disintegrated completely.This spell will always affect Undead of a lower class before itwill affect a higher Class Undead creature.

This spell targets specific Undead based on uponhow close they are to the caster and what their Class is.It will affect those that are closer to the caster beforethose further away, yet within range. It will attempt toaffect all those within range of a lower Class beforeattempting to affect those of a higher Class. If anUndead resists this spell, then he does not have to worryabout being affected by it again unless it is cast againwhile he is within its radius. Undead outside the radiusof this spell when cast, who later enter it, are notaffected by this spell.SCALING OPTIONS:

Every additional 5 points of undead affected +2 PPIncrease Radius (20’ radius) +3 PPIncrease Radius (30’ radius) +4 PPIncrease Duration (10 rounds/rank) +6 PP

WARRIOR’S MIGHT

PP COST: 5RANGE: SelfDURATION: 2 rounds/rankSPELL TYPE: UtilityRR: —SPHERES: Paladin, Warrior MageDESCRIPTION: For the duration of the spell, the caster gainsa +5 modifier to determining critical damage. This doesnot affect the character’s chances to hit his foe, only thedamage to be done. The caster also receives a +10 bonusto Strength related maneuvers outside of combat.SCALING OPTIONS:

Increase Might(+10 critical modifier; +15 to strength maneuvers) +4 PPIncrease Might(+15 critical modifier; +20 to strength maneuvers) +6 PPIncrease Might(+20 critical modifier; +30 to strength maneuvers) +8 PPIncrease Duration (5 rounds/rank) +4 PPIncrease Duration (10 rounds/rank) +6 PP


RULES OPTIONS

One of the best things about HARP is the ability tobe able to easily create small house rules that allows youto customize the game to suit your own style. Some ofthis is inherent, such as with the Cleric and with TrainingPackages. This same principle works throughout the restof the game as well. If you, as a GM, find that a rule doesnot fit the way that you think it should work, then by allmeans I encourage you to change it to better suit yourexpectations. If you are not sure how to change it to suityour needs, the ICE forums are a great place to ask, asthere are many friendly people who will help and makesuggestions to aid in adjust the game to suit your needs.

I am the last person in the world who will ever tryto claim that HARP is the perfect game for everybody.However, I do think that it comes pretty close and Ithink that the inherent flexibility built into HARP is amajor part of the reason it comes so close.

This section of HARPer’s Bazaar details severalHouse Rules that I have mentioned or come up withrecently. I hope that you enjoy them.

CASCADING RRS FOR FEAR

In HARP, fear is normally treated as an all or nothingeffect, meaning that you are either so afraid that you arerunning away or it isn’t affecting you. Several people havecommented about this on the ICE forums. My solution tothis possible issue is to have a Cascading Resistance Roll(CRR) for fear attacks. This will allow for a wider range ofpossible results and more opportunities for roleplaying,thus allowing characters to really test their mettle.

Use the Cascading Fear Resistance Roll Table givenon this page for resolving Fear effects. The cause of theFear Effect still makes a maneuver roll on the RRcolumn of the Maneuver Table as before to determinethe base RR, however the actual effect caused by theFear will be determined by the result of the ResistanceRoll made by the character.

CASCADING FEAR RR TABLE

RR No Effect: You master yourself and thefear cannot touch you.

RR-10 Shaken: You are at -10 to all actions, butare determined to stand your ground.

RR-20 Frightened: You are quaking and wantto flee but are determined to try to holdon. You are at -20 to all actions whilefrightened.

RR-30 Panicked: You are at -30 to all actionswhile under the Fear Effect, exceptthose that will move you away fromwhatever it causing the effect. Youcannot make attacks, but you also gain a+30 to DB while fleeing from the Fear.

RR-40 Terrified: You drop whatever you areholding and flee from the cause of theFear as fast as possible. You can usespells, special abilities, or anything elseto help you get as far away as fast aspossible. You cannot make attacks asyou flee, nor will you stop to aid othersin any manner. You receive a +50 to DBwhile you are fleeing.

Failure Catatonic: You are so traumatized bythe Fear that you withdraw into acatatonic state until 1d10 hours afterthe Fear Effect is gone.

Example: Jorg is exploring an old crypt andcomes across an undead creature, a skeleton(Class I Undead – Level 3). Like most Undead,the skeleton exudes an aura of fear that Jorgmust resist against. The Undead is third level, sothe GM rolls and gets a 75 for a total of 90 (75 +(level 3 x 5) = 90), which means that Jorg needsto make a Will-based Resistance Roll of 100 orhigher or be affected by the fear. Jorg rolls a 43and adds in his RR Bonus of 35 for a total resultof 78. Looking at the generic Fear CRR above, wecan see that Jorg’s result is more than enough tobeat RR-30 [Panicked], but not high enough tobeat RR-20 [Frightened], thus Jorg is frightenedand is at -20 to all actions until he gets awayfrom the skeleton or defeats it.

SKILLED FUMBLES

When a character fumbles, the normal procedure isto make a single roll on the Fumble Table and to applythe results. Over the past several months, I have seen anumber of comments come up regarding fumbles, andhow they might be too harsh, as they do not take intoaccount how skilled a character might be. With thisoption, how skilled a character is will have an effectupon how harsh a fumble result might be.

Fumble Option: When a character fumbles a skillor maneuver, they subtract the number of ranks thatthey have in the fumbled skill or spell from the roll usedto determine the effects of the fumble. This can neverreduce the fumble roll below a 1.

Example: Rawrg has 12 ranks in Long Blades.When making an attack against a nasty goblin,Rawrg fumbles his attack. Rawrg makes hisfumble roll and receives a 38. Using this option,Rawrg subtracts 12 from the 35, giving him anadjusted fumble roll of 23 (35 - 12 = 23). Thus,instead of giving himself 1d10 hits, he only loseshis grip on his weapon momentarily.


INITIATIVE OPTION

The standard method of determining initiative is toroll 1d10 and add in the character’s Init Mod. However,some may feel that this does not give enoughrandomization, and that for some characters, it wouldnever give them a chance to get initiative over some of thefaster monsters. This can be alleviated by rolling 2d10rather than 1d10 for initiative. This reflects that there is agreater element of luck for determining who goes first.

ARMOR AS DAMAGE REDUCTION

One of the ideas that I have been toying with is thepossibility of using armor as a method of damagereduction, after a hit has been determined rather thanbeing applied to DB. However, removing the armormodifications from DB would result in many moreactual hits connecting and result in more damageoverall, thus this has to be compensated for as well. Thefollowing guidelines take care of this, though they doslightly increase the complexity of resolving attacks.

The first thing to do for using this option is to removethe armor modification from the DB of all characters, andreplace it with a general +30 modifier for an Innate DodgeBonus. Characters and monsters with Tough Skin, do notremove this from their DB, nor is the bonus from Shieldsremoved, only the bonus from any armor worn.

If an attack hits hard enough to do damage, thenthe Armor Damage Reduction (ADR) modifier issubtracted from the final result at the same time thatthe adjustment for attack size is applied according to thecore HARP rules. If you are using Hack & Slash, thenthe ADR is subtracted from the low end of the numberrange given under the Letter Code for the critical.Should the ADR reduce a critical below the low end ofthe table being used, then no critical damage is given tothe character who received the attack.

To keep things as simple as possible, the ADR modifieris equal to 1/2 of the total DB modifier for armor worn.Thus a suit of Soft Leather, which has a DB mod of +20,would have an ADR of 10, and a suit of Rigid Leather,having a DB mod of +30, would have an ADR mod of 15.

Example Setup: Rawrg is wearing a suit ofPlate/Chain and carrying a normal shield (+25),and has a total Quickness bonus of +10. Thisgives him a DB, under the normal rules, of 80(50 + 25 + 20 - 15). Using this option, Rawrgwould have a DB of 60 (30 Innate Dodge Bonus+ 25 Shield + 20 Quickness – 15 ArmorManeuver Penalty) and an Armor DamageReduction (ADR) modifier of 25.

Example 1 (HARP Core Rules): Rawrg isfighting a Giant Rat (OB 80) and is foolishly noparrying. The Giant Rat rolls a 55, giving it atotal attack roll of 75 (55 + 80 – 60), which hitshard enough to do damage. This total is thenadjusted for the attack size and Rawrg’s ADR.The attack size is small, so it receives a -10 andRawrg ADR is 25, so the result receives another -25 for a total adjustment of -35. Using thestandard rules, this attack would have resulted ina 55 on the Puncture table. Using this option, itinstead results in a 40 on the Puncture table.

Example 2 (Hack & Slash): Using the samesituation and rolls that are in the first example,what would normally have been a result of 7E onthe Puncture Attack Table becomes a 9C (9I,with the critical reduced to a C) when usingthese optional rules.

POWER STRIKE (HACK & SLASH)

Hack & Slash introduced a new alternative combatsystem for HARP. However a few people disliked howPower Strike had been altered to work with Hack &Slash and felt that it was not worth attempting. Thefollowing options are given to alleviate this issue.

Option 1: Rather than have the -20 apply to OB,have it apply to DB while the character is making thePower Strike. The additional -10 to OB still applies foreach round beyond the first that it is used.

Option 2: Power Strike does not receive a modifierto OB at all, but it takes 2 full rounds to complete.


CLERICAL ORDERSIn HARP, when a character becomes a Cleric, he is

joining a religious order, and his selectable skillcategories and his actual Sphere of spells should bedetermined by the deity worshipped and by the focusand nature of that deity. The following examples detail afew possible Clerical Orders that a character might join.

EARTH WARDENS

Focus: Oberus the Forest Lord; God of Plants, Animals,and Nature.

Culture (Temple Locations): Varies. Temples areusually simple affairs in the countryside; they arenever located within a city or a town. Most often,these temples or shrine can be found in remotewilderness locations, such as caves or smallclearings deep with the woods.

Membership: Humans, Elves, Gryx, Halflings orGnomes. Many Rangers are lay members of thisorder, or affiliated with it. Lay members do not gainthe benefits of membership that full members gain.

Benefits of Membership: +5 to locating herbs in thewild, identifying plants, and tracking outdoors.

Restrictions: No killing of any animal or plant needlessly.

Symbol: A tree in full bloom. This normally takes the formof an amulet or brooch pin that is worn by the cleric.

Dress: Brown hooded robes with a leather belt. All wear asimple amulet in the shape of a tree. (It is often a PPAdder as well – i.e. by use of the Holy Symbol spell).

Structure: The Earth Wardens have no real structure,other than each Warden being trained by hismentor. Once every 20 years, Earth Wardens willgather and elect one of their members to lead theorder until the next conclave.

Philosophy/Purpose: Respect for nature is the themestressed by the order. While not vegetarians, theyteach that killing for sport or other wastefulpurpose is evil. The order has an understanding offarming techniques (crop rotation, etc.) andimparts this information to area farmers. They blessharvests and often preside at fall festivals.

Activities: These Clerics are rurally oriented and a goodportion of the membership travels constantly,teaching farming techniques and urging respect forthe earth. They also work to prevent deforestationas much as possible, trying to balance the needs ofcivilization against protecting plants and animals.

Favored Categories: Clerics of this order place both oftheir selected Favored Categories into the OutdoorCategory, gaining a total of 6 ranks in that category.

Spells: Earth Wardens have the following spells as theirsphere. They gain access to all of the spells listedunder Brotherhood Sphere and may select any 6spells from the Selectable list to bring the total fortheir sphere up to 20 spells. If College of Magics isavailable, then all spells from the Vivamancershould be considered to be part of the list ofSelectable Spells as well.

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Dress: The Guardians wear a grey tunic with the symbolof their deity embroidered on the left side of thechest. They also wear cloaks made of a dark greymaterial. All of their holy symbols are always madeof a silvery metal that never tarnishes.

Structure: The Guardians are a quasi-militant order,and have a system of ranks denoted by seniority.

Philosophy/Purpose: The Guardians believe that evillikes to work under the cover of the night, and thatit is their purpose to root out this evil and toprotect others from those who prey on the weak.

Activities: These Clerics spend most of their time rootingout evil cults and others who prey upon the innocentunder the cover of night. They especially hunt downunnatural creatures such as Undead and Lycanthropes.

Favored Categories: Clerics of this order place one of theFavored Categories (3 ranks) in Combat, and theother in Subterfuge (3 ranks), the better to be able todeal with those who stalk the night for evil purposes.

Spells: Members of the Guardians have the followingspells as their sphere. They gain access to all of thespells listed under the Guardian Sphere and mayselect any 8 spells from the Selectable list to bringthe total for their sphere up to 20 spells. If Hack &Slash is available, then the Guardians may also havethe Celestial spells as Selectable spells as well.

GUARDIANS OF THE NIGHT

Focus: Khonu the Moon God; the Night Beacon.

Culture (Temple Locations): Temples to Khonu areoften located on high hills or in other remotelocations. The temples often have roofs that may beopened to let Khonu’s light shine into the templeduring ceremonies.

Membership: The Guardians will accept a person fromalmost any race as a member. Those members whodo not have Night Vision naturally undergo a ritualwhich grants them with this ability (i.e. thecharacter must purchase the talent) when they areready to receive it. While most members of thisorder are Clerics, there are a good number ofPaladins who belong as well.

Benefits of Membership: The Guardians gain a +10bonus to Tracking and to Stalk & Hide. If Collegeof Magics is available, then Guardians may alsogain the Mage Hunter training package at a 30%cost discount instead of the normal 25% discountgained for training packages.

Restrictions: None.

Symbol: A crescent moon with a star located between theouter arms of the crescent. The points of the crescentalways face inwards, towards the center of wearer.

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THE GATEKEEPERS

Focus: Dira, Goddess of Life and Death; the Gatekeeperof Antoch.

Culture (Temple Locations): Temples to Dira may befound in any location.

Membership: The Gatekeepers will accept a person fromalmost any race as a member, so long as that personis female. Men are not allowed to join this order.

Benefits of Membership: The Gatekeepers gain a +10 toHealing and Herbcraft.

Restrictions: The Gatekeepers may not take a life, exceptin self-defense. They also may not use any bladedweapons, only blunt ones such as maces and slings.

Symbol: An hourglass with the sands run about half-wayout, and a pair of spread wings on the upper half.

Dress: The Gatekeepers wear black robes with silverpiping and trim.

Structure: The Gatekeepers have a hierarchy based uponseniority with each member moving up as theybecome proficient. Each level of seniority has adifferent color to the set of wings attached to thehourglass symbol that represents their service to Dira.

Philosophy/Purpose: The Gatekeepers believe that they arethere to guide souls to their final rest in Antoch. Theyalso believe that it is their duty to heal others when andwhere they can. The Gatekeepers believe that Undeadare an abomination and that those trapped souls needto be freed and speeded on to Antoch.

Activities: In urban areas, the Gatekeepers will wander thestreets looking to aid those in need, either by healing orhelping them prepare for their journey to Antoch, theafterlife. They will also often travel with armies and evensmall groups of adventurers as well, in exchange for thedonations that support the order. The Gatekeepers willalways attempt to attend any battle that they can, inorder to guide the spirits of the dead to the afterlife.Gatekeepers will also seek out Undead andNecromancers and try to destroy them, sending theirsouls on for Dira to judge and pass them into Antoch.

Favored Categories: Clerics of this order place both ofthe Favored Categories (6 ranks) in Influence.

Spells: Members of the Guardians have the following spellsas their sphere. They gain access to all of the spells listedunder the Guardian Sphere and may select any 7 spellsfrom the Selectable list to bring the total for their sphereup to 20 spells. If College of Magics is available, thenthe Gatekeepers also select the Necromancer spell,Speak with the Dead as one of their Selectable Spells. IfHack & Slash is available, then the Gatekeeper may alsohave the Celestial spells as Selectable spells as well.

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